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Antiques

Antiques

Lucketts Spring Market 2025 wish list

It’s time for another Lucketts Spring Market!  Right on cue, the rains have come in just as vendors are setting up, and there is more rain in the forecast.  If an area is ever experiencing a drought, they just need Lucketts to set up shop, and the rain will come!  As a former vendor who has experienced spring rain at Lucketts, I’m only partially kidding.  Fortunately, the Clark County Fairgrounds has good drainage, and most vendors are in covered buildings.  I’m hoping for everyone involved that we get some sunshine!  No matter, I’m heading to the VIP day on Friday, rain or shine. Here are a few things on my wish list for this market… I have almost completed the first draft of my book manuscript, and I’m moving on to work on the photography.  The book is about creativity, so I’ll be styling photos of creative tools and materials,

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All Things Home

the fate of the open kitchen shelves

I’ve been looking for and considering an alternative to the inexpensive open shelves we added during our kitchen renovation.  We were at the end of the project and the budget, and I was also experiencing decision fatigue.  But I quickly realized I didn’t have a place to put my mixer or all of my ironstone collection, so I came up with an inexpensive solution – open shelves made out of stair treads and metal brackets, all painted the color of the wall.  It was budget-friendly, pretty easy to install, customizable, and would meet the immediate need.  I always thought they would eventually be replaced with something else, but I keep coming back to the same problem when I look at antique wall shelves or even when I consider building something – there is simply too much stuff. This is one of the realizations that urged me to start thinning my

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All Things Home

the practice of letting go

Over the weekend, I started cleaning out my ironstone collection, pulling the pieces I felt ready to part with. As I was sharing pictures of the growing piles of stuff, I started getting messages essentially asking if everything was okay; if I was okay. Was there some big life event that was forcing this purge? Did I need some quick cash? Were we moving, or had I just received a worrisome diagnosis?  It made me smile that letting go of things, some of which have been synonymous with my aesthetic for over a decade, brought such concern.  I put those fears to rest and shared a link to the blog post I wrote about hitting my “stuff threshold” a couple of weeks ago.  (You can read that post HERE.)  This wasn’t brought on by any major life events but by a slow and subtle change within me that made me

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Antiques

small business spotlight | my white porch shoppe

One of the things I enjoy about the online community is getting to know other creative entrepreneurs and business owners.  There was a time when starting a business meant one needed a physical place to sell from and a place to hang a shingle.  There was a time when one had to physically visit those stores in order to meet other business owners in their field or associated fields.  It’s pretty amazing we can do it online.  I remember when I first found the online world of home/DIY/decor bloggers and thought, I have found my people!  Grace Miller of My White Porch Shoppe is one of those people. We met on Instagram (you can follow her HERE) and she asked if she could select a few things from her shop to share with my audience.  Whenever I get these requests, I take a look at the shop to see if

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All Things Home

the antique swedish herbarium

As I shared this summer, I decided to start pressing flowers, herbs, leaves, and other interesting bits from my garden.  (You can read about that HERE.)  I thought it would be an artsy way to record what I’m planting and how things grow.  I also thought pressed plants might be a good jumping-off point for paintings, sketches, and pattern design.  Since I struggle so much with painting flowers, maybe I can paint them better if they are flat.  I knew pressing and mounting plants had been around for centuries, but I had never heard of a Herbarium until I got lost down the rabbit hole of record keeping.  If you’ve followed me for a few years, you know I am enamored with old journals, sketchbooks, diaries, sewing sampler books, and ledgers, and I have collected many fine examples of those over the years.  Now, I not only wanted to make

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All Things Home

the lost art of polishing & ironing

Last week, I took some time to pay a bit of attention to my pens and pencils.  If you use disposable ballpoint pens, that might sound like an odd task, but I primarily use fountain pens, refillable mechanical pencils, and even refillable ballpoint pens.  Several of my pens and pencils are silver or brass, which need to be polished now and then.  I realize not everyone would want to spend time out of their day to polish their pencils and fiddle with a clogged nib on a fountain pen, but I found delight in the chore. Even though we have more time-saving and labor-saving devices than ever, we use more disposable things than ever. I’m not judging anyone who uses disposable things for their ease.  I used disposable diapers for my boys.  I use paper plates and cups when we have a lot of people over, paper towels for rags

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All Things Home

the Repoussé pitcher

When I shared my Christmas dining room last week, I received so many comments and questions about the silver water pitcher on the table. It’s a sterling silver pitcher by Kirk Stieff in the Repoussé pattern that was first introduced in 1828.  I’ve shared about this silver pattern before since it is my family’s silver and it makes a regular appearance here on the blog. Four generations of my family have collected this pattern and a portion of the collection was passed down to me, including this stunning water pitcher. Some of the pieces I inherited date back to the mid-1800s. Since Marian is a family name, a couple even have my name on them. My Oma collected things she loved, including this silver pattern that was passed down to her and added to over the years. I know this pitcher was hers because it wears her monogram. It may

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All Things Home

kitchen paper towel holder alternative

I decided years ago to ditch the paper towel holder in my kitchen.  I don’t have anything against them, but I just never found one I really loved.  I found one or two over the years that were tolerable and I used them because you need to have a paper towel holder.  One day when I was rearranging the accessories on the kitchen counters at our PA house, I tried something different.  I grabbed a vintage locker basket, dropped two paper towel rolls in, and I liked it.  The locker basket put an end to tippy paper towel holders that never felt quite right for my style.  I used it for years in our PA house, MN house, and when we first moved to our current house in Maryland.  As I started playing with the final touches of the kitchen renovation, the locker basket didn’t feel right in this kitchen,

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I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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